VOUCHER MATH

FYI: New York City will lose 4,000 vouchers for Section 8 housing next year if President Bush’s proposal to block-grant the program passes Congress, according to an Independent Budget Office report. The New York City Housing Authority’s 2004 financial plan holds its funding at just over $680 million for 2004, to account for the new block grant formula. Citing an 18-year trend in the rate of housing cost increase, the IBO predicts the agency will be able to afford 4,000 fewer vouchers at that level. The 2003 federal budget already changed Section 8’s funding formula to pay only for those vouchers used by housing authorities during the previous fiscal year, cutting off their ability to carry funds over into the next year. NYCHA is currently using 98 percent of its vouchers, and will lose funding for the remaining two percent, or 1,700 vouchers, if the funding remains unused at the end of the fiscal year in September. [7/22/03]

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